Free Creative Writing Prompts #52: Childhood

Ah, childhood. These freecreative writing promptsabout your adolescence may be able to take you back into some of your happiest and saddest childhood memories. Often, there are extremely strong emotions associated with some of these memories, and I recommend taking a look at my Relaxation article to relax out any feelings that stay with you after your writing. These intense emotions only mean that there is a lot of precious writing metal to be mined from these thoughts and you may find that when you write them down they help to inspire similar thoughts in the minds of your audience members. Take these slowly and enjoy yourself.

Free Creative Writing Prompts: Childhood

1. What is your most poignant childhood memory? The one that sticks out the most. Write out as much as you can remember and then fill in the details with elaborate description.

2. Who was the most important person to you during most of your childhood? Your Mom? Your Dad? Another relative? A friend? An imaginary person? Show some examples in which you see how much influence this person (or imaginary person) had on you while you were growing up.

3. It seems like when you are a kid growing up you can't wait to get there and when you are a grown up you wish you could be back. Imagine one day in which you are granted adulthood as a child, and one day in which you are granted childhood as an adult. How do you utilize these 24 hour periods?

4. We all have that friend we had in childhood who later moved into a different popularity scale in middle or high school. Who was that friend and what was it you two enjoyed so much together when you were little?

5. What did you and your family do for entertainment when you were little? Did you play board games together? Go to movies? Go into extreme detail of a family fun night of some kind.

6. What cartoon from your childhood is the most memorable for you? What made it stick in your head so strongly? Would you see a movie of it now if were made into a big blockbuster for the nostalgia purposes?

7. How did the following things affect you during your childhood: music, books, the weather, money, love. You can combine them all into one story or do separate entries on each.

8. What action makes you the most nostalgic for your childhood? Is it seeing old pictures or going through old clothes? Something else entirely. Write a story of you going through those nostalgic actions and having various memories of your childhood.

9. How do you recall getting along with your family during your childhood? With your parents, siblings, and other relatives? Go though a typical reunion or holiday with your entire family in attendance during your childhood. Have fun going into excruciating detail :).

10. It's your birthday! Pick a party that you had during your childhood or create an ideal birthday party for yourself at any young age and write a story about it.

As an assigment in a poetry class, we once had to write a poem about our earliest childhood memory. This was an awesome assignment and interestingly enough it actually helped me realize some psychological things about myself. Not all of your memories will do such a thing, but it's worth nothing that looking backwards can help you to move forwards in both life and writing. If you are feeling brave, feel free to share some of your words in the space below. Happy writing!

Bonus Prompt - You have been given the opportunity to go backwards. You can pick an age and start over again from that age. Do you pick one or not? What age would you go to? Describe your first week with your "old person" memories in your younger body.

Bryan Cohen is the author of more than 30 books, many of which focus on creative writing and blasting through that pesky writer's block. His books have sold more than 20,000 copies. You can find him on Google+ and Facebook.

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